Spirits (50+) Leave Upset Laguneros Behind with 10 to 6 Win

(July 11, 2026 – Carrollton, TX) Tempers flared and players were tossed before the Laguneros gave up against the Spirits (50+) squad on Saturday following a 10 to 6 win for the ghosts.

Several Laguneros players lost control of their emotions and tempers flared late in the game when an overturned call should have led to several player ejections. The umpiring crew kept their cool and only settled the game momentarily before the Laguneros battery squad plotted against the home plate umpire with a fast ball to the mask. The play resulted in Luis Valdez being ejected from the game and the Laguneros retiring with the Spirits holding the 10 to 6 lead with just an inning to play.

“This crap was out of line,” Shawn Lee mentioned afterwards. “I’ve been tossed for much less but this game was just ridiculous. Players drawing lines in the batters box after being called out on strikes and then players screaming at the top of their lungs two feet away from an umpire’s face for over 5 minutes. It was absurd. I give the umpire credit, he took it calmly and allowed them to stay in the game, but that nonsense of throwing not one, but two pitches where their catcher ducked to get out of the way so the ball would hit the umpire? Just absurd. He should have thrown both players out and they should be done for the year. When you go after umpires, you crossed the line.”

Prior to the nonsense, it wasn’t a bad game up until that point. The teams traded runs and the Spirits offense finally started taking control of the game before it hit the fan. Brian Kellner helped carry the squad on offense with a 3-for-4 day, adding a double, 2 runs scored, and 2 runs batted in. Steven Nutt, Earl German, Kevin Simmons, Chris Lewis, and David Tipton each finished with 2 hits on the day, with Tipton and Simmons each adding a double.

Mike Sopocy picks up another win with a 5 inning performance that allowed 5 earned off of 9 hits while walking 1 and striking out 3.

With the Laguneros up 2 in the first, the Spirits countered with 2 runs in the top half of the second inning after Nutt reached on an error. Nutt later moved to second on a wild pitch before moving to third when Sopocy reached on an other error. Sopocy stole second base and a single by German scored Nutt. Ben Northcutt was hit by a pitch an Stacy Scott then reached on another Laguneros fielding error that allowed Sopocy across the dish. Tipton then reached on a fielder’s choice that squeezed German at the plate before Dee Mauldin flew out with bases loaded to end the frame with the game tied 2 to 2.

The Spirits then made it 4 to 2 in the third after Kellner singled with one out. Simmons and Nutt also singled back to back to load the bags for Sopocy. Kellner then scored on a wild pitch and Simmons later scored on another error by Juan Norat at second base to make it 4 to 2, ghosts before German flew out and Northcutt lined out to third base.

The Laguneros tied the game in bottom of the third after Adan Galvan singled and Federico Ambriz reached on an error. A triple by Carlos Pena scored both runners and the game was tied 4 to 4 after Sopocy was able to get Luiz Ruiz to fly out and Alfredo Mendoza to ground out.

The Spirits then added 3 runs in the fourth after Lewis led off with a single. Scott lost a battle of strikes and Tipton followed with a single to move Lewis to second. Mauldin flew out to center and Lewis tagged and reached third before several pick off attempts of Tipton at first base setup an opportunity for Lewis to take home after the first baseman dropped the ball on the fifth attempt over to first.

“David (Tipton) got into their heads for a minute there,” Lee noted. “He was yelling and taking huge leads, just getting back each time they threw over and his goal was to get into Valedez’s head and it worked. I was yelling back to him to stop it because Kirk Sipila was at the plate and we trust his bat but David’s antagonizing worked and I think that helped spill over to some of their emotions getting the best of them later.”

Sipila then reached on an error that allowed Tipton to reach third and Kellner’s double afterwards scored both players before Simmons flew out to end the Spirit’s half of the inning with the ghosts now leading by a score of 7 to 4.

The Spirits went up 8 to 4 on an RBI single by Lewis in the fifth before the Laguneros added 2 more runs to close the game to 8 to 6 before the fireworks kicked in during the game’s final inning.

Tipton led off the sixth with a double and then inexplicably decided to try to take third after Mauldin popped out to third inside the grass on the infield. The Laguneros third baseman raced him to the bag where it appeared that the tag may have missed him. The field umpire called him out from second base but Lee appealed the call by calmly asking for timeout and asking the home plate umpire if he had a better look. The umpires discussed the call and the call was overturned to Tipton safe at third. After several minutes of arguing, Tipton eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Sipila. Kellner then singled and Simmons followed with an RBI double to score Kellner before the Laguneros targeted the home plate umpire and the game ended following ejections.

“I think it was a culmination of the overturned call and then their pitcher being upset with a lot of non-strike calls. They were constantly making faces and complaining about the strike zone, so it’s obviously they decided to do something,” Lee continued. “We were just glad to leave. There’s nothing fun about that style of baseball.”

The Spirits remain in second place and have all but locked up the number two seed with one game left to play. It’s possible for the team to move to number one, but it would require that the Redbirds lose next week to change seeding options. The team returns to the field next Saturday at when they host Metroflex at McInnish Park, Field #11 starting at 11:45AM. Fans can click here for schedule details.

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